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词数：503 words
难度：★★★★☆
小贴士：
这篇文章也很好，政治+社会民生+环境，复合型题材，看到的友友们可以说是有福了！
——大橙子留
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上期划线句答案
A recent paper by Terhi Maczulskij and Jutta Viinikainen, two Finnish academics, looked at the relationship between personality traits and employment status in Finland, and found that higher self-confidence was predictive both of entrepreneurship and of entrepreneurial success.
最近，芬兰学者泰丽·马兹尔斯基和尤塔·维尼凯宁的一篇论文研究了芬兰人的人格特质和就业状况之间的关系，发现更高的自信程度预示着创业精神和创业成功。
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本期内容
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双语阅读
Para.1
Since the early 2000s, changes to Europe’s farming practices and subsidy regime – the common agricultural policy (CAP) – have been geared explicitly towards protecting the environment, as well as supporting farmers and food production. The CAP represents a third of the EU budget, coming to about €55bn (£46bn) a year and in return for that largesse, farmers are supposed to meet a minimum level of environmental protection. Taking additional measures such as growing more trees or conserving wetlands can net them extra support.
Para.2
But so far at least, the environmental aspects of the CAP changes have not worked. The European court of auditors in 2020 found little evidence of a positive impact on biodiversity from the CAP. The European Environment Agency, in its State of Nature report in 2023, found that the EU’s farmed environment had continued to decline, with the health of only 14% of habitats and about a quarter of non-bird species classed as “good”. The CAP is also making the climate worse: about 80% of the budget goes to support carbon-intensive animal food products, according to a paper published this month in Nature.
Para.3
In the early years of what became the EU, the focus of European agricultural policy was on food security above all. When the CAP was conceived, in the early 1960s, farmers were encouraged to increase yields by adopting more efficient machinery and the new fertilisers and pesticides. They were given quotas to supply certain amounts of food, and guaranteed prices for their produce. These were seen as ways to provide stability to farmers, and food security to consumers.
Para.4
In the late 1980s, when it became clear the quotas were distorting the market and leading to surpluses of some products – the EU’s famous “butter mountain” and “wine lake” – overhaul of the CAP led to more direct payments to farmers. Then, from 2003 to 2012, farm payments were “decoupled” entirely from production and based instead on the amount of land farmed, with extra payments available for farmers who could exhibit good stewardship of the environment. While that has simplified the payment system and removed many of the distortions, it also means the biggest farmers reap the biggest rewards. “CAP is just welfare for the rich,” is how Ariel Brunner, the director of BirdLife Europe, termed it. But it is also still a lifeline for poor farmers. The problem is that the supermarkets that buy the farmers’ produce, and the suppliers of farm inputs such as fertiliser and pesticides, also count on the subsidy payments. “You have the retailers and middlemen sucking out all of the margin, and farmers being left with very little,” says Will White.
Para.5
So a system that was meant to help farmers, keep Europeans fed and the land well cared for, has turned into one that trashes the environment; enriches big landowners and leaves poor farmers struggling; delights retailers but costs money for consumers; and causes headaches for politicians of all stripes because they know they can be held to ransom by cavalcades of tractors and burning haybales.
本文节选自：The Guardian（卫报）
发布时间：2024.11.2
作者：Environment
原文标题：‘Welfare for the rich’: how farm subsidies wrecked Europe’s landscapes
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写作句总结
原句：So a system that was meant to help farmers, keep Europeans fed and the land well cared for, has turned into one that trashes the environment
结构：So a system that was meant to X, has turned into one that Y.
例句：So a system that was meant to preserve natural resources, has turned into one that accelerates deforestation.
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阅读理解题
Which of the following is an unintended consequence of the evolution of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)?
A. Increased biodiversity in farmed environments.
B. Reduced dependence on chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
C. Greater financial disparity between large and small farms.
D. Lower consumer costs for food products.
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全文概括
The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) aimed to balance environmental protection with food production and farmer support. However, despite changes since the 2000s to incentivize environmentally friendly practices, the CAP has demonstrably failed to improve biodiversity and has even worsened climate change due to its support of carbon-intensive animal agriculture. Initially, focused on boosting yields, the CAP evolved to include direct payments to farmers, which, while simplifying the system, disproportionately benefits large landowners and leaves smaller farmers struggling. This system, criticized for its environmental impact and inequitable distribution of funds, presents a complex challenge for EU policymakers. Ultimately, the CAP highlights the tension between agricultural policy goals and their real-world outcomes.
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